Scientists say the Southern Hemisphere ozone hole is larger than usual and already surpasses the size of Antarctica.
The European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said Thursday that the ozone hole, which appears every year during the Southern Hemisphere spring, has grown considerably in the past week following an average start.
“Forecasts show that this year’s hole has evolved into a rather larger than usual one,” said Vincent-Henri Peuch, who heads the EU’s satellite monitoring service.
“We are looking at a quite big and potentially also deep ozone hole,” he said.
Atmospheric ozone absorbs ultraviolet light coming from the sun.
This story was originally published on CBC News. To read the rest of this news worthy story, please visit https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/ozone-hole-antarctica-1.6177817?cmp=rss.